topic Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

ORllyNao — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:05:03 GMT

I have a few collections on my Equifax report from Merchants Credit Association totaling around $800. I am in a position to settle them, so I called and asked for my account number to access my account online. They looked me up by my SSN and gave me a "package number." I got logged in and my account only shows really old collections - all PIF many years ago. Absolutely no current collections showing a balance due. Whole account shows a $0 balance.

I thought maybe there might be a separate "package number" for me to look under, because my Equifax report clearly showed these collections and gave that CA's contact information. So, I called back and asked if there was maybe a different acct/package number my debts would be under.

The guy fiddled around a bit, listed off some debts that had been paid years ago, and then asked me to use my phone to show him my credit report on video so they could find the collections I was seeing on my report. I declined and ended the call. I'm not going to do their job for them and show them "proof" of a debt they can't find in their system.

If I indeed owe them money for these collections, shouldn't that come up in their system under my SSN? The last reported update from them to Equifax was 8/1/2022. I don't see how they have been reporting these collections to Equifax every month (using my SSN, right?) but not be able to pull me up using that same SSN in their own system.

I put in a dispute with Equifax after the call, and I've set aside the funds pendng the results of the dispute, but I'm not going to just hand $$ over to a collection agency that can't even find my "outstanding debts" in their system using my SSN. And I'm not going to help them find the collections either.

Any idea what might be going on here, or has anyone had this happen before?

TIA for any insight on this!

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

FireMedic1 — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:42:07 GMT

Well see what happens with the investigation. Report back. Different avenues you could take then. Good Luck!

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

Lou-natic — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 23:04:26 GMT

If they can't "find" the debt a dispute should certainly come out in your favor, and I would go that route first before just handing them money.

If it somehow gets validated then sure whatever do what ya gotta do but not before then.

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

twanswife916 — Sat, 27 Aug 2022 11:01:55 GMT

Send them a debt validation letter. Never Ever Pay Collection Agencies unless they can prove you have a contractual obligation to pay them (not the OC)

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

OmarGB9 — Sun, 28 Aug 2022 04:03:59 GMT

@twanswife916 wrote:
Send them a debt validation letter. Never Ever Pay Collection Agencies unless they can prove you have a contractual obligation to pay them (not the OC)

That myth has long been disproven.

And debt validations are useless unless your right to request validation is first triggered by a dunning notice. From that point you'd have 30 days to request DV. After that, any DV request can be ignored by the CA. Moreover, the bar for DV is extremely low. A simple statement from the original account suffices.

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

ORllyNao — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 18:19:24 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
Well see what happens with the investigation. Report back. Different avenues you could take then. Good Luck!

I'm back with an update. Got the dispute results back from Equifax last week, and all 4 collections have been removed from my report, which is great. HOWEVER, the wording is giving me pause (bolding is mine):

The information you disputed has been verified as accurate, however, information unrelated to your dispute has been updated. The results are: THIS ITEM HAS BEEN DELETED FROM THE CREDIT FILE.

Not sure what unrelated info could have been updated that would cause removal, unless maybe it's been sold to another CA and that's why they couldn't find it? I'll be watching my reports closely to see what happens from here.

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

FireMedic1 — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 21:36:07 GMT

@ORllyNao wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
Well see what happens with the investigation. Report back. Different avenues you could take then. Good Luck!
I'm back with an update. Got the dispute results back from Equifax last week, and all 4 collections have been removed from my report, which is great. HOWEVER, the wording is giving me pause (bolding is mine):
The information you disputed has been verified as accurate, however, information unrelated to your dispute has been updated. The results are: THIS ITEM HAS BEEN DELETED FROM THE CREDIT FILE.

Not sure what unrelated info could have been updated that would cause removal, unless maybe it's been sold to another CA and that's why they couldn't find it? I'll be watching my reports closely to see what happens from here.

When it said "this Item". Were all of them deleted? May have been sold and you dont know who has it yet. What about the OC? Maybe they recalled it, own it, and may pass it on to another CA. Since the one you were dealing with was unsuccessful. So many routes can happen.

Re: Collection Agency Can't Find My Debt?

ORllyNao — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 16:40:28 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
@ORllyNao wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
Well see what happens with the investigation. Report back. Different avenues you could take then. Good Luck!
I'm back with an update. Got the dispute results back from Equifax last week, and all 4 collections have been removed from my report, which is great. HOWEVER, the wording is giving me pause (bolding is mine):
The information you disputed has been verified as accurate, however, information unrelated to your dispute has been updated. The results are: THIS ITEM HAS BEEN DELETED FROM THE CREDIT FILE.

Not sure what unrelated info could have been updated that would cause removal, unless maybe it's been sold to another CA and that's why they couldn't find it? I'll be watching my reports closely to see what happens from here.

When it said "this Item". Were all of them deleted? May have been sold and you dont know who has it yet. What about the OC? Maybe they recalled it, own it, and may pass it on to another CA. Since the one you were dealing with was unsuccessful. So many routes can happen.

Yep, all of them were deleted and all 4 had that same wording. And that's what I'm thinking - that the reason they couldn't find them and they didn't show in their online system is because they no longer have them - probably sold to another CA. I'm keeping an eye on my reports in case they pop back up under a different CA. I can also call original creditors, tho 3 of the 4 were very small medical debts (looks like co-pays I somehow missed years ago, maybe), and I doubt the dr's office recalled those. The other one is possible, but I'd be surprised due to how old it is (6 years). I'd definitely like to get ahead of it and pay them before they pop back up on my reports, and maybe keep that from happening at all. I'll report back if there's anything to report!